Adapted from exercises developed by Debby Filler, content modified from Biology, 7th edition,

©2005, by Solomon, Berg, and Martin and the ARCC Cambridge Lab Supplement

Lab 11: Genetics and Chi-Squares – Pre-lab and Practice

Credit: www.xkcd.com

Introduction
The mathematical rules that govern the inheritance of traits (version of a character; e.g.,
kernel color) were developed long before we understood chromosomes and meiosis. Gregor
Mendel discovered these rules by crossing thousands of pea plants, observing the inheritance
of specific traits in their offspring, and creating a mathematical model that explained his results.
Mendel’s rules are scientific laws that mathematically predict traits in offspring based upon
their parents’ traits. It was not until much later that scientists, such as Walther Flemming,
Heinrich Waldeyer, Theodor Boveri, and Nettie Stevens, discovered chromosomes and
recognized DNA as the heritable source of traits. This led to the development of modern
chromosome theory. Understanding that DNA is heritable and located on chromosomes is
required to understand genetics, with Mendel’s laws predicting the outcome of sexual
reproduction and chromosome theory explaining why Mendel’s laws are true. We now
recognize the combination of these concepts simply as meiosis.
Adapted from exercises developed by Debby Filler, content modified from Biology, 7th edition,
©2005, by Solomon, Berg, and Martin and the ARCC Cambridge Lab Supplement

The Punnett square method is an easy way we can use Mendel’s laws to determine the
genotypes and phenotypes of parents, or predict the probability that offspring will have various
genotypes and phenotypes. When you complete a Punnett square, think of its outcome as a
hypothesis—a genetic result predicted to be true based on Mendel’s laws. Under Mendel’s
laws, certain genotypic crosses will result in predictable genotypic and phenotypic ratios in the
offspring. It is very important to recognize that the output of a Punnett square is a probability
not a certainty, it is a hypothesis. This technique predicts the chance that an offspring will
inherit a specific genotype/phenotype, not the exact number of offspring that will inherit a
specific genotype/phenotype. We will study the inheritance of two in corn plants by predicting
and then observing seed color (purple or yellow) and seed texture (smooth or wrinkled).

Before Lab:

● Watch Introduction to Mendelian Genetics – Khan Academy

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR3779ef9yQ).
● In this document:
○ Complete the definition portion the handout.
○ Read Solving Genetics Problems.
○ Try completing the monohybrid practice problems.
● Complete your pre-lab quiz.

Learning Objectives:

● Define and apply common terms used in Mendelian genetics, such as character,
phenotype, genotype, gamete, true-breeding, homozygous, heterozygous, allele
(dominant or recessive), monohybrid cross, and dihybrid cross.
● Utilize Punnett squares to predict the results of monohybrid and dihybrid crosses.
● Evaluate if a genetic hypothesis is supported or not supported by examining observed
vs. predicted results.
● Apply the Chi-square test to statistically evaluate hypotheses
Adapted from exercises developed by Debby Filler, content modified from Biology, 7th edition,
©2005, by Solomon, Berg, and Martin and the ARCC Cambridge Lab Supplement

Definitions, Solving Genetics Problems and Monohybrid Practice

Define the following terms in your own words:

Term Definition

Character

Phenotype

Genotype

Allele (in general)

Dominant allele

Recessive allele

Heterozygous

Homozygous

True-breeding

Solving Genetics Problems

Do you like puzzles? Mendelian Genetics (named for Gregor Mendel) problems are like puzzles
and solving them can be just as much fun as puzzles. You will need to follow a series of steps
carefully, so you don’t miss any clues or forget any important steps.
1. Always use the standard designation for the generation (P, F1, F2), unless you are not
given that information.
2. Write down the symbols for the alleles and what they mean. Make sure you can tell
one allele from another. If you are given symbols, use those. Otherwise, use a capital
letter for the dominant allele and the same letter (but in lowercase) for the recessive
allele. If you are not told which is dominant and which is recessive, then try to
determine it by looking at the phenotype of the F1 generation.
Adapted from exercises developed by Debby Filler, content modified from Biology, 7th edition,
©2005, by Solomon, Berg, and Martin and the ARCC Cambridge Lab Supplement

● For Example: you are told I have black hair and black hair is dominant, but my

mother has red hair and it is recessive. Since you were not given letters to use
for the alleles, let's use the letter ‘B’:
i. Black hair allele MUST be capitalized because it is dominant = B
ii. Red hair allele MUST be lower case because it is recessive AND we will
use the lowercase version of the letter for Black hair = b
iii. If I am homozygous dominant for black hair, my genotype is BB
iv. If I am heterozygous for black hair, my genotype is Bb
v. If I had red hair, I would be homozygous recessive, my genotype is bb

● Make sure to write the symbols down and what they mean so you don’t get

confused!
i. B = Black hair allele
ii. b = Red hair allele
iii. BB = Black hair (homozygous dominant)
iv. Bb = Black hair (heterozygous)
v. bb = Red hair (homozygous recessive)
3. Determine the genotypes of the parents. You can determine this if you are given any of
these types of information:

● Are they true-breeding? Yes? Then they are homozygous.

● Can you reliably tell the genotype by looking at the phenotype? You can if you

are looking at the recessive allele in the homozygous condition.

● Look at the offspring information. The phenotypes of the offspring may give you

information about the genotypes of the parents.

4. Figure out what types of gametes can be formed by each of the parents. We’ll discuss
two types of crosses in this lab: Monohybrid and Dihybrid

● Monohybrid Cross (one trait)

Adapted from exercises developed by Debby Filler, content modified from Biology, 7th edition,
©2005, by Solomon, Berg, and Martin and the ARCC Cambridge Lab Supplement

i. AA → A and A would be the gametes

ii. aa → a and a would be the gametes
iii. Aa → A and a would be the gametes

● Dihybrid Cross (two traits): for this we’ll learn a technique called foil, but for now

we can apply the principles of independent assortment:

i. AABB → AB gametes
ii. AaBb → AB, Ab, aB, ab gametes
iii. AABb → AB, Ab gametes
iv. Aabb → Ab, ab gametes
v. aabb → ab gametes
5. Set up a Punnett square. Be careful to put the appropriate gametes from step 4 in the
right places. By convention, the female parent’s gametes go down the left side of the
square, and the male parent’s gametes go across the top of the square. If you are not
given information on which parent is male or female, just designate one parent for the
left and one for the top.

● Monohybrid (one trait) Punnett for parents AA and aa (AA x aa)

a a

● Dihybrid (two traits) Punnett for parents AABB x aabb

ab ab ab ab

AB
Adapted from exercises developed by Debby Filler, content modified from Biology, 7th edition,
©2005, by Solomon, Berg, and Martin and the ARCC Cambridge Lab Supplement

AB

AB

AB

6. Fill in the Punnett squares. Avoid confusion by being consistent. If you have a
heterozygote, always put the dominant allele first (e.g., Aa, rather than aA). If it is a
dihybrid cross, fill in the alleles of one locus first, and then do the other locus. You want
to avoid situations where you have AaAb—that will never work! If the individual is
heterozygous at both loci in a dihybrid cross, make sure you are methodical about listing
the alleles: AaBb is not confusing, but AbBa is very confusing (i.e. keep the same
letters/genes together). Example below for the crosses above.

● Monohybrid (one trait) Punnett for parents AA and aa (AA x aa)

a a

A Aa Aa

A Aa Aa

● Dihybrid (two traits) Punnett for parents AABB x aabb

ab ab ab ab

AB AaBb AaBb AaBb AaBb

AB AaBb AaBb AaBb AaBb

AB AaBb AaBb AaBb AaBb

AB AaBb AaBb AaBb AaBb

Adapted from exercises developed by Debby Filler, content modified from Biology, 7th edition,
©2005, by Solomon, Berg, and Martin and the ARCC Cambridge Lab Supplement

7. Use the rules of probability to determine the percent likelihood is for each phenotype
as encoded by the genotype allele pairs. If probability confuses you, you can always
draw out your gametes and make a Punnett square and count up the cells in the square.
Use the product rule for independent events that occur at the same time. Use the
addition rule for events that can be arrived at by different routes.

● Monohybrid (one trait) Punnett for parents AA and aa (AA x aa)

a a

A Aa Aa

A Aa Aa

Genotype Probabilities: Aa = 4 out of 4 = 100%

Phenotype Probabilities: Dominant (AA or Aa) = 100%

● Monohybrid (one trait) Punnett for parents Aa and Aa (Aa x Aa)

A a

A AA Aa

a Aa aa

Genotype Probabilities: *Total should sum to 100%

AA = 1 out of 4 = ¼ = 25%
Aa = 2 out of 4 = 2/4 = ½ = 50%
aa = 1 out of 4 = ¼ = 25%
Phenotype Probabilities:
Dominant (AA and Aa) = 1/4 + 2/4 = 3/4 = 75%
Adapted from exercises developed by Debby Filler, content modified from Biology, 7th edition,
©2005, by Solomon, Berg, and Martin and the ARCC Cambridge Lab Supplement

Recessive (aa) = 1/4 = 25%

● Dihybrid (two traits) Punnett for parents AABB x aabb

ab ab ab ab

AB AaBb AaBb AaBb AaBb

AB AaBb AaBb AaBb AaBb

AB AaBb AaBb AaBb AaBb

AB AaBb AaBb AaBb AaBb

Genotype Probabilities:
AaBb = 16 out of 16 = 100%
Phenotype Probabilities:
Dominant for both genes (AaBb) = 16/16 = 100%

8. Work backward when you need to deduce information about the parents or about an
unknown. Test crosses can be used to deduce information about unknowns. Test
crosses involve crossing an unknown individual with a homozygous recessive individual.
To indicate the genotype of an unknown, put in the allele that you know, and use an
underscore to indicate that you don’t know what the other allele is.

● For example: if I have a pea plant with yellow seeds and all I know is that yellow

is the dominant allele, I would indicate the genotype of this plant as Y ___. I can’t
be certain of the plant’s genotype because both YY and Yy plants would have
yellow seeds, but I can use a test cross to make this determination. If I breed the
Y ___ plant with a homozygous recessive yy plant, I will either get offspring that
are Yy and yy (if the unknown genotype is Yy), or I will get offspring that are all
Yy (if the unknown genotype is YY). If I do this test cross, I can look at the
phenotype of the offspring and work backward to find the true genotype of the
Adapted from exercises developed by Debby Filler, content modified from Biology, 7th edition,
©2005, by Solomon, Berg, and Martin and the ARCC Cambridge Lab Supplement

unknown. If this seems confusing to you, try making the Punnett squares for the
two unknown genotype possibilities.
Adapted from exercises developed by Debby Filler, content modified from Biology, 7th edition,
©2005, by Solomon, Berg, and Martin and the ARCC Cambridge Lab Supplement

Monohybrid Practice Problems

Single Inheritance Patterns

1. In guinea pigs, rough coat (R) is dominant over smooth (r). What will be the genotypes
and phenotypes of the following monohybrid crosses?
a. Genotypes of parents are Rr x Rr:

b. List the offspring phenotypes and what percent they occur:

c. Genotypes of parents are Rr x rr:

d. List the offspring phenotypes and what percent they occur:

2. Genetic or learned trait? Ability to roll the tongue has been ascribed to the action of a
dominant gene. Using (T) for tongue rolling and (t) for the inability to roll the tongue,
predict what the genotypes and phenotypes of a cross between the following parents:
a. Parents are both heterozygous for the trait:
Adapted from exercises developed by Debby Filler, content modified from Biology, 7th edition,
©2005, by Solomon, Berg, and Martin and the ARCC Cambridge Lab Supplement

b. List the offspring phenotypes and what percent they occur:

c. One parent is homozygous dominant for tongue rolling and the other is
homozygous recessive:

d. List the offspring phenotypes and what percent they occur:

Adapted from exercises developed by Debby Filler, content modified from Biology, 7th edition,
©2005, by Solomon, Berg, and Martin and the ARCC Cambridge Lab Supplement

Enrichment Section: Chromosome history!

There were a few key scientists involved in the discovery

of chromosomes; Walther Flemming “recognized and
explored the fibrous network within the nucleus. He called
it chromatin, or ‘stainable material.’' Flemming is
generally credited as having discovered ‘the chromosome’
but Heinrich Waldeyer was the scientist that actually
‘coined’ or came up with the term. Flemming noted that
during cell division, the chromatin formed threadlike
bodies, which he termed mitosen, from the Greek word
for thread. Based on many observations of cells in various
stages of division.” (see Figure). Theodor Boveri, building
on Flemming's work found the first evidence that
chromosomes of germ cell lines provide continuity
between generations; DNA is heritable. Nettie Stevens was studying mealworm when she found
the males produced X and Y chromosomes whereas the females produced only X. She
suggested there was a chromosomal factor in sex inheritance. At the time her idea of shunned
because the chromosomal theory of inheritance was still under debate in scientific circles. At
the time it was commonly believed that gender was determined by the mother and/or
environmental factors. Her theory however, was ultimately proven correct.
Figure. Walter Flemming’s drawing of mitosis (credit: Nature Scitable, https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/developing-
the-chromosome-theory-164/)

To learn more!

● Developing the Chromosome Theory: https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/developing-the-

chromosome-theory-164/
● Nettie Stevens: A Discoverer of Sex Chromosomes: https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/nettie-
stevens-a-discoverer-of-sex-chromosomes-6580266/ and http://www.dnaftb.org/9/bio.html
● Video of Nettie Stevens life, education, and contribution to science: https://youtu.be/sBJgp2TgvGY